Grow your own tea

As autumn takes hold, there are lots of plants that start producing fruits and berries. Today we are going to take a look at a few of them and, in particular, how you can enjoy them out of a cup. Let's start with apples; you can enjoy a cup of apple tea very easily: simply dice a few apples and simmer them in water for 10 minutes, strain out the water and enjoy. You can even use the peel if you've got some left over after baking. You might also like to try adding a few spices such as cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. And if you're looking for something with a bit more punch, you can always sub out the apples and water for cider, and simmer that with the spices.

The ramblers amongst you may well have been picking blackberries recently. Along with improving an apple crumble, they can be used to make a drink too. Tip three cups of blackberries and half a cup of sugar into a bowl and crush together with a potato masher. Meanwhile use two teabags andfour cups of boiling water to make tea and leave it to brew for a few minutes. Then, stir the tea into the crushed blackberries and leave to stand for an hour or so. Finally, strain through a sieve and dilute with two and a half cups of cold water. This is the process we used to make our own blackberry tea last week and we can vouch for its delicious flavour!

There are plenty of other autumn hedgerow fruits out there which you can turn to the same purpose: rose hips and hawthorns can be de-seeded and steeped to make their respective teas. The sea buckthorn can also be used in the same way, though it can be quite tart and may well need the addition of some sugar or honey. Of course, if you don't fancy getting your hands dirty, you can always find commercial variations online.

I don't think we can end this blog without having a look at the famous pumpkin spice latte. Starbucks introduced this particular variation in the autumn of 2003 after development began in January of that year. It was a success right out of the gate and has been ever since. The recipe uses pumpkin flavoured syrup, although Starbucks have announced that they are looking to introduce real pumpkins into the mix this year- along with a topping of spices that are normally found in pumpkin pie, a traditional dish in North America. If you are a fan of the pumpkin spice latte, be sure to enjoy it in moderation as there's a fair amount of sugar with all that syrup and cream.

Hopefully one or two of these ideas have appealed to you and you'll give them a go. Be sure to tell us what you think on twitter, and perhaps even share your own favourite autumn drink @kafevend